The Truth About Magpies and Why It Does Not Matter

Experimental Video-Essay, 14:00 min

For centuries, across much of Europe, magpies have been believed to have a fondness for shiny objects and a thieving nature. Having grown up with this folkloric belief, the artist begins to identify with the corvids. She too collects shiny silver objects.

Last summer, she learned that magpies don’t actually have a particular fondness for shiny objects. But why, despite this new knowledge, does she want to hold on to her old belief? In a city unfamiliar to her, the artist searches for the black-and-white birds and for answers.

A film about obsessions, myths, demystification, and untrue truths. A nursery rhyme that predicts the future. Lost, dropped, found, silver objects. Magpies that steal, mourn, observe, and are preserved for eternity.